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Our Frieia^ 
France 






Lecture given at Harvard University 

under the auspices of the Cercle Francais 

February 2, 1916 

Lecture at the Harvard Club, Boston 

February 1, 1916 



By 
WHITNEY WARREN 

AM. Hon. Harvard 1911 
Membre de L'Institut de France 



New York 
1916 



Price, 10 cents 



Our Friend, 
France 



Lecture given at Harvard University 

under the auspices of the Cercle Fran^ais 

February 2, 1916 

Lecture at the Harvard Club, Boston 

February 1, 1916 

By 
WHITNEY WARREN 

AM. Hon. Harvard 1915. 
Membre de L'Institut de France 



OUR FRIEND, 
FRANCE 

Gentlemen 

In the face of the great conflict, which is de- 
vastating the Old Continent, the New World, is 
divided between the concern for its own happiness, 
and that of its honor, and hesitates to take its 
place openly by the side, of those who are defend- 
ing Liberty and Justice. It is indeed a sad posi- 
tion that we have been made to take, in a dispute 
where we had, at the same time, a role so glorious 
and useful to fill. Those who have the responsi- 
bility of having forced us into such an attitude, 
are on the eve of rendering their accounts, and it 
is to be hoped that the People will judge them with 
severity. Obedient to their instincts, our People 
understand very well what is expected from us, in 
accordance with our History and Dignity. We 
have, in a general way, an exact appreciation of 
our duty, and this permits us to wait, in all con- 
fidence, THE DAY WHEN WE WILL SEE 
ONCE AGAIN, SHUT UP IN THEIE 
STUDIES, THOSE WHO HAVE BY AM- 
BIGUOUS DISSERTATIONS, LED US FROM 
THE STRAIGHT PATH. I have, indeed, been 
3,ble to convince myself since my return to the 
United States, that Opinion is healthy and far- 
■ seeing; but, I have also been able to see, that on 
certain points this Opinion, is not wisely in- 
formed, and it is on these points that I would like 
to speak to-day, so that you may also, if you agree 
with me, aid in dissipating several errors too 
evidently ''Made in Germany." 

The first of these errors, bear upon the role of 
France, in the actual war, and the second on the 

[1] 



OUE FRIEND, FRANCE 

role of Great Britain. They have been dressed 
up and masqueraded, both of them, by the Ger- 
man propaganda, which, having failed in its 
brutal action, hopes for better success through 
insinuation. Their manner of effecting public 
opinion is not dangerous, when it limits itself to 
criminal tactics, but it becomes so, when they ad- 
vance seditious and false theories, apparently 
based upon facts, and against which the unwary 
are not warned. 

Amongst these theories there is none more 
perfidious, than the one, which consists in wish- 
ing to convince, us Americans, that France is 
only engaged in this War through the bad luck 
of having had Allies. This is done by giving 
false reasoning as to the origin of the Con- 
flict, in attributing it to the commercial rivalry be- 
tween England and Germany. They are well 
aware, in Berlin, of the great moral influence that 
France enjoys all over the world, the great sym- 
pathy she has always aroused throughout her his- 
tory, due to the generosity of her great principles 
and of her conduct. But more particularly, here 
she counts innumerable friends who are not pre- 
pared to neglect her. We owe to her a debt of 
recognition, so evident, that nobody could dream 
of the possibility of our forgetting it; it would 
be useless, and too clumsy, for Germany to at- 
tempt to convince us that France is our enemy; 
but, on the contrary — how easy it is to exploit 
our old discussion with England, and to use 
lier as a scare-crow. The German tactics are 
none other than this. 

If it were possible to establish, that the object 
o«f this formidable War, is the supremacy of the 

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OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

World by Great Britain and, if it were possible, 
to reduce the role of Prance to that of an accom- 
plice, a double result might be hoped for :— First, 
to re-awaken the souvenir of our old quarrels with 
one of these powers, and secondly, to weaken the 
motives we might have to uphold the other; to 
awaken an old suspicion and to put asleep an old 
friendship, by blarney-ing us on the origin, as 
well as consequences of the struggle; TO SUB- 
STITUTE FOR THE REMORSE WE MIGHT 
FEEL, FOR ABANDONING AN OLD FRIEND, 
THE EXCUSE OF A LEGITIMATE FEAR 
AGAINST AN OLD ENEMY. 

But this is a speculation with which we must 
not allow ourselves to be duped — to so much cun- 
ning we must oppose even more. NO ! This war 
was not declared because the docks of London 
were jealous of the docks of Hamburg. It has been 
established beyond controversy that Germany 
alone has taken the fearful responsibility of start- 
ing the War and that for a long time she has 
premeditated her attack. England had no other 
ambition than to develop her power through 
peace. Her absolute lack of military preparation 
at the beginning of the hostilities is an irrefutable 
proof. It is, therefore, a simple lie to say that she 
has ever dreamed of conquering by her arms a 
dangerous competitor. It is even not true that 
Germany had, in the first instance, the intention 
of the immediate ruin of her great rival; it was 
not against England that she had the intention of 
mobilizing. 

Read for yourselves, the official report of the 
diplomatic interviews, which preceded the rup- 
ture. You will see that up to the last moment, 

[3] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

Grermany attempted by all means in her power, 
by all sorts of disloyal propositions, to insure 
the neutrality of England. Undoubtedly, it was 
not in the spirit of gentleness, that she tried thus 
to keep up the good relations, between the two 
countries! She felt that she was not strong- 
enough, to take on so much of the world at the 
same moment, and she was reserving for the fu- 
ture, (after a complete victory over her Conti- 
nental neighbors) the chance of in turn destroying 
her great maritime rival. Her politicians fore- 
saw two distinct wars — one leading to the abso- 
lute defeat of France, and of Eussia, not count- 
ing Belgium and Servia, and later — in her turn — 
England, when she found herself isolated. 

This division of effort appeared to her more 
handy, and, as a matter of fact, it was the only 
way, in which she could hope to achieve her su- 
preme supremacy. 

Her plan, too cunning, did not work out; but, 
none the less, in the actual struggle, FRANCE, 
HAS THE RIGHT, AND DEMANDS IT, OF 
BEING CONSIDERED THE INITIAL, THE 
PRINCIPAL ADVERSARY, AND WITH HER, 
HER ALLY— RUSSIA. IT IS ENGLAND WHO 
ENTERED INTO THE GAME BY CHANCE, 
OR RATHER, OUT OF RESPECT FOR HU- 
MANITY, AND BY AN EXACT UNDER- 
STANDING, OF WHAT HER INTEREST 
WAS. The violation of Belgian territory made 
her interpret, what is known as the "Entente 
Cordiale," in its largest sense, and give to it 
the character of a true Alliance. She immediately 
took sides with the enemies of Violence and of 
Perjury, to save her honor, and also (why hesi- 

[4] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

tate to say it?) to preserve her force. These are 
two motives, of which she may well be proud, and 
which unite themselves in one; because, it proves 
THAT THERE ARE NATIONS, WHICH 
STILL ESTEEM, THAT HONOR INTACT IS 
AN ESSENTIAL CONDITION OF POWER. 

Therefore, do not let us take as truth, all that it 
appears wise to Germany to let us know. Do not 
let us accept, without discussion, the false reason- 
ings which she advances. The real object, the real 
cause of the present war, is much nobler than she 
would have us believe, and FRANCE, is the flag 
around which have rallied all the people who still 
count Dignity and Freedom for something. Do 
not let us say — ''What a pity for France that she 
has embarked on this enterprise!" But, let us 
say — ''What a glory for her, to be at the head of 
all FREE Nations!" AND LET US CONSIDER, 
THAT THE TRIUMPH OF THE ALLIES 
WILL BE, ABOVE ALL, THE TRIUMPH OF 
THE GREAT PRINCIPLES WHICH FRANCE 
HAS ALWAYS DEFENDED, AND WHICH 
ARE THE VERY CONDITIONS OF OUR OWN 
EXISTENCE— THE VERY CHARTER OF 
OUR OWN CONSTITUTION. All other consid- 
erations may be forgotten but these. Do not let us 
permit that the veritable cause be diminished. Do 
not let us be uneasy, if, in giving our help to the 
cause of the Allies, we are playing the game of 
such and such a power. Let us persuade ourselves 
simply, that there are general doctrines, uni- 
versal doctrines, that surpass all individual ones, 
and which FRANCE symbolizes. She would ag- 
grandize those who fight beside her, if they need 
aggrandizement. She diminishes those who fight 

[5] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

against her, OR WHO, EVEN BY THEIR IN- 
DIFFERENCE AND INERTIA, DO NOT SUS- 
TAIN HER. 

The quadruple Alliance is made up of all sorts 
of races — Latins, Anglo Saxons, and Slavs ; and all 
sorts of Governments — Republican, Constitutional, 
Monarchial, and Autocratic. 

The common necessity, to reduce a cynical and 
aggressive power, has re-united them. A common 
instinct for preservation, has made them Allies; 
forgetting their difference of character, and the 
difference of their mode of ruling, they find them- 
selves side by side, to fight against the revolting 
principles, the monstrous pretensions of bar- 
baric Germany. This offers to the most dif- 
ferent elements of opinion, an occasion of 
fraternizing under the name of the Ideal for, 
the defense of Humanity. The Czar of all the 
Russians, does not speak to his people, in another 
language than the President of the Republic, 
speaks to the citizens of France. They invoke, 
both of them. Liberty and Right, to prove the 
necessity of a struggle to the bitter end. They, 
both of them, appeal to the everlasting aspira- 
tions of Conscience, because, it is in all verity, 
that which is the price at stake. All the rest is of 
no importance. Who would have said, a short 
time ago, that to-day we would see Russia and 
England, (whose ambitions in several points of the 
globe are very much opposed), giving each other 
the hand to aid in the common cause, and for- 
getting their private quarrels'? To obtain such a 
result something greater than mere personal rea- 
sons, must have sprung up — something stronger 
than the rancour or the suspicion, analgous to 

[6] 



OUK FRIEND, FRANCE 

that which certain Americans seem still to harbor 
against Great Britain. THIS SOMETHING, IS 
NOTHING BUT THE WILL TO MAKE RE- 
SPECTED THE GREAT LAWS OF HUMAN- 
ITY. 

Are we not going to show ourselves capable of 
conquering our personal dislikes, no matter what 
they are, and to understand, that there is some- 
thing greater and more universal that should in- 
terest us ? Are we not going to abandon our ego- 
tistical aversions and allow ourselves, with our 
whole soul, to practice a more generous and uni- 
versal sympathy? The end that Germany has in 
view, is to profit by our animosity against either 
one or the other of the Allies. She excites against 
England those who, without reasoning, dislike 
her. She excites the Jews, against Russia. For, 
let it be remembered, it is the German Jew who in 
this country are continually exciting opinion 
against Russia — not the Russian Jew. She calls 
to her aid all we have within us that is most vul- 
gar, and that which is the lowest, for she attempts 
to exploit our Hatred. One discovers there the 
work of a low and vile nature ; but, we will escape 
from her iniquitous suggestions — for, we know 
that the only nobility consists in searching and 
working for reasons of Love and of Friendship; 
and it is certainly not Germany which furnishes 
us with these. 

FRANCE personifies, in this War, the ideas 
which have assembled the nations solicitous of 
Justice. She is the dominant Living Thought, as 
expressed hy the Allies. She plays outside of her 
military role, — a role no less important — that of 
^'ANIMATRICE," as would say, the poet 

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OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

d'Annunzio — and, is there any comparable 
to it? I fail to see it and do not believe it, 
because, without it no other can exist. The great 
drama which is being played at this moment 
would have no reason for being, if FRANCE and 
all that she represented at the beginning, did not 
give it one! All the other personages of the play 
are living her moral life ; and, it is for that reason, 
they have the right of receiving from us an equal 
admiration. If, in ordinary times, you do not feel 
a strong affinity toward England or toward Eus- 
sia to-day love them because of their resemblance 
to France. When people come and say to you: — 
"But it is Germany and England who are really 
at war to-day and we do not desire the victory of 
either one or the other ! " let us answer ' ' NO ! IT 
IS BAEBAEISM AND CIVILIZATION, AND 
BOTH, THEOUGHOUT HISTOEY, HAVE AC- 
QUIEED OTHEE NAMES. THE FIEST IS 
GEEMANY, IT IS TEUE ; BUT, THE SECOND 
IS FEANCE." 

Therefore, my young friends, do not forget to 
protest every time that people attempt to confuse 
you on the true object of this vast conflagration. 
You are the Intelligence and the Future of this 
country. YOU WILL DIEECT, ONE DAY, ITS 
DESTINIES. MAKE THE EFFOET NOW SO 
THAT THEY MAY NOT BE LEFT TO YOU 
IN A EATHEE SAD AND DAMAGED STATE. 
You have the right to talk and to protest ; and be- 
lieve me, that, at the present moment, your herit- 
age is being neglected. They are diminishing it 
morally, in trying to mislead the United States as 
to the true significance of this war, and, to confine 
us to a passive role, under the pretext that we have 
no interest to serve in assisting a British victory. 

[8] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

A moment ago I spoke of Love and of Friend- 
ship. It was of you I was thinking when I pro- 
nounced those words. You are of the age, when 
these sentiments fill the heart, and when they are 
capable of performing miracles. You have fervor 
and enthusiasm! Use them to their utmost, to 
render more real still, the natural inclination we 
have in America to lean toward FRANCE. This 
inclination, I know, is not absolutely inert. It has 
manifested itself by all sorts of individual initia- 
tives, generous and touching, but it is still a long 
way from giving what we have the right to expect 
of it. What more noble purpose can be made of 
your youthful ardour, than by all the means pos- 
sible, by speech, and by charity, by your every 
day thought and actions, to support a country 
which is truly yours, since it paid with its blood, 
the liberty of your ancestors. Turn your eyes 
from everything that is not AMERICA, that is 
to say, from everything that is not FRANCE! 

Many of your elders, it is only just to say, are 
paying their debt; have gone without hesitating 
to offer their services to General Joffre, as in by- 
gone times LaFayette did in offering his arms to 
General Washington. We are living in a time, it 
is true, when one is not named a Major General in 
his twentieth year, as was LaFayette. Those who 
have gone over there are simply soldiers, aviators, 
ambulance attendants; some of them have a 
grade — one that does not give them command of 
a division; but, let us remember that merit, is not 
measured by the number of stripes upon the 
sleeve. I am not asking you to imitate them, but 
here, at home, to propogate the belief in the 
•French. Since you have the luck to belong to a 

[9] 



OUK FEIEND, FEANCE 

country that has a debt of gratitude to pay, (I 
say luck, because it is luck, for a people with 
proper instincts to have moral obligations), apply 
yourselves to paying it. There can be no better 
task for your hearts. Gratitude permits you to 
find immediately where to place your sentimental 
resources — what might be called your sentimental 
assets. Convert these into bonds of Friendship! 
You have a wonderful role to play — that of re- 
calling to those who are apt to forget, that 
FRANCE is at this moment fighting for YOUE 
FUTURE HAPPINESS; that she defends YOUR 
HOMES, at the same time she defends her own; 
that YOUR BROTHERS— young fellows of your 
own age, are falling over there on the battlefield, 
SO THAT CIVILIZATION MAY NOT PERISH, 
AND THAT YOU MAY STILL BENEFIT BY 
ITS GIFTS. 

At Paris, in the School of Fine Arts, to which 
I am particularly attached, on the first day of 
mobilization, out of 1800 students, 1600 left for 
first line defence. 

Can you imagine a similar spectacle taking 
place here, at Harvard? That is to say, that out 
of your number, which, roughly speaking, is 7000, 
6400 should to-morrow abandon their studies to 
offer themselves to Death in the defense of your 
ideals ? Can you imagine your classes absolutely 
deserted — this great house, sad and silent — the 
intellectual life suspended — your work left unfin- 
ished — your ambitions changed — AND YOUR- 
SELVES, SETTLED IN THE TRENCHES, 
YEARNING AND STRAINING FOR NA- 
TIONAL VICTORY! 

That, perhaps, is what might happen some day, 

[10] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

if your comrades, in France, were not at the pres- 
ent moment in charge of disputing the devouring 
pretensions of Germany ! And seeing clearly the 
dangers, from which, through their struggle, they 
are saving you — your duty, pushes you to uphold 
their cause, to encourage them by your active 
approbation, and to testify to them on all occa- 
sions your solidarity. These students of all 
schools, who have furnished to the Republic of 
France her most brilliant officers, certainly, when 
the hour rings you will be their equals in courage! 
Therefore, show to them to-day, that their Moral 
qualities, are the same as yours; that you are 
their Peers, not only in Intelligence but through 
your Conscience! 

I see for you a sort of command to take — even 
in peace — and that is, to direct the thoughts of 
those who surround you, of your families, of your 
friends, toward FRANCE who is struggling and 
who is suffering. Get together all the energy that 
can be useful to her. Beat the Reveille ! so that no 
goodwill may be distracted from the straight path. 
Make yourselves masters of all hesitations by 
preaching, as I am doing, that the future victory 
is going to be FRANCE, that of her principles, 
and of her traditions. If you meet people who 
have a grudge against England — some vindicative 
Irishman, for example — say to them — "Do you 
not see that you are entering the service and aid- 
ing Germany? If your grievances are justifiable, 
it is with the indefatigable defenders of Justice, 
that you must be — that is to say, with FRANCE !" 
If you find Jews, who are hostile to Russia, say to 
them — ''Beware of so-called German- American 
financiers and their satellites who are misleading 

[11] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

you. Which are the nations which have received 
you without any conditions — FEANCE and ENG- 
LAND. Germany, before the war, forbade you 
the access to any career. Are you going to thank 
her for this humiliation by lending her a hand? 
If you have wrongs and demand justice you must 
turn to the two great people of the Earth who 
have for centuries been the champions of your 
liberties. They have been your help. Are you 
going to say they are wrong?" In truth, there- 
fore, I repeat, there is for you, a great work of 
Love and Friendship to accomplish. I ask you to 
sow words of union and of fraternity, and I have 
fathomless confidence in your youthful gener- 
osity, in your enthusiasm, in your great power of 
persuasion. 

This is not all, as I have said in the beginning 
I want to put you on guard against two lies. "We 
have considered the first, which consisted in de- 
naturalizing the true interests which are at stake 
in this struggle. The second is not less flagrant. 
It is that which consists of proving that England 
is powerless and that her capacity, as a whole, is 
negligible. In other words, Germany wishes to 
show on one side that England is possessed of an 
unhealthy ambition, and on the other side, that 
she is absolutely unfit for her task, and so, Ger- 
many hopes to expose her rival, at the same time, 
to a spirit of hatred, and to a spirit of disdain. 
For France, her attitude is quite the contrary. 
Germany, (knowing that she cannot make France 
an object of terror, nor an object of sarcasm), 
attempts to transform her into an humble, a piti- 
ful country. One way or the other, she tries to 
create in us sentiments which obstruct our frank 
ardor in her cause. 

[12] 



OUK VEIEND, FRANCE 

Just as France has the right, NOT to the com- 
passion which is destined to the feeble, but to the 
firm respect, which a great power deserves when 
she is in the right, so ENGLAND merits NOT 
irony, but admiration! 

ENGLAND, it should be proclaimed, has real- 
ized in the space of eighteen months a formidable 
work, not only so far as the seas are concerned, 
but also for Continental defense; but, it must be 
remembered, that this work has not in a general 
way been manifested by destructive results, and it 
is for this very reason, that her efficiency may be 
contested. 

Up to the present moment, the English effort 
has been signalized by daily victory — but by a 
negative victory — if I may use the expression, — 
not a destructive one. This victory, is over 
the German fleet on the one hand, and her 
extreme preparation on the other — which has not 
its example in the history of the World. The 
English fleet has not destroyed, (and for just 
reasons, as you know), the naval forces of Ger- 
many; but she has forbidden them to leave their 
refuge, either for combat or for commercial pur- 
poses. There has not been, with but one excep- 
tion, since almost the beginning of the War, a 
single frigate, or a single merchant ship, sailing 
under the German flag. I omit speaking of sub- 
marines — instruments, (as they have been used), 
of most miserable and foul murder; and, even 
they have not succeeded, in the smallest way, in 
beginning to equalize the power of the two fleets, 
or in any way to obstruct the commercial traffic 
between the allied nations, AND OURSELVES, 
IT MIGHT BE ADDED. They have absolutely 

[13] 



OUE FRIEND, FRANCE 

failed in the work they were destined to accom- 
plish, and have only succeeded in striking popu- 
lar imagination in a miserable fashion. 

It is difficult for one to size up, in all its sig- 
nificance, a superiority which forbids the Central 
Empires, the access of ALL the Oceans, which 
blockades them, which deprives them of the air 
to breathe, which in the end must become vital. 
We Americans, do we understand sufficiently the 
daily service which this mastery of the seas ren- 
ders US'? Without it our commerce would be 
stopped, our prosperity diminished instead of in- 
creased. We would be at the mercy of Germany 
and of her criminal fantasies. The important 
results? No! It is not Germany who has ob- 
tained it through her noisy, shameful and mis- 
erable campaign; but ENGLAND, WHO HAS 
VIRTUALLY DEMOLISHED IN THEIR OWN 
PORTS THE GERMAN COLORS, AND FOR- 
BIDDEN THEM TO FLY ON THE OPEN 
SEAS! 

And on the land? England, after having bril- 
liantly aided, in pushing back the first shock, 
has taken up the task of forming armies and 
chiefs. This task was one, so formidable, that it 
could not, indeed, be accomplished in a day; but 
it is a remarkable thing, prodigous even, — the 
spectacle of a people, who, all of a sudden, had to 
break with its secular traditions to follow a new 
destiny. 

England gives to us this example — an example, 
which one of these days we will probably have 
to follow, and let us only hope, when that day 
comes, we may do as well as she has done. We 
have the opportunity of comparing our situation 

[14] 



OUK FRIEND, FRA.NCE 

of to-day with hers of yesterday. A people of 
sailors, habituated — as ourselves — to consider 
their geographical position impregnable; a posi- 
tion which necessitated an organization on water 
for national defense ; in one day they found them- 
selves called upon, from considering themselves 
an insular power to consider themselves a con- 
tinental one. 

A doctrine of magnificent loneliness, had 
brought them to feel, (even as the Monroe Doc- 
trine has with us), an absolute indifference to- 
ward militarism, and had inspired them with a 
feeling of security, illusionary and dangerous. 

One must be careful of doctrines that flatter 
LAZINESS AND VANITY, also of those that 
have the ambition to be PERPETUAL. 

All that is eternal and regular, can be found in 
the great moral laws ; but, political principles, 
which depend upon the particular and momentary 
consideration of each state, cannot hope to be 
everlasting truths, because, they are subject to 
evolution and to changing conditions. That 
which was our strength yesterday, may become 
our weakness to-morrow ! Monroe, himself, would 
probably be the adversary to-day of his much 
vaunted doctrine. His clear sight of the epoch 
in which he lived, does not permit us to believe 
that he would have adopted, in our days, a blind 
line of action. The great lines of our international 
policy were not drawn by him to be perpetuated 
into infinity ! His work was the practical reason- 
ing of the day; but, certainly, he would not have 
wanted it to be applied against good common 
sense, against our honor and against our interest. 
THE RULE HE LAY DOWN WAS DESTINED 

[15] 



OUR FEIBND, FRANCE 

TO SEEVE OUE GEEATNESS; BUT, IT IS 
INVOKED TO-DAY, WITHOUT PAYING 
ANY ATTENTION TO WHAT NECESSITY 
CALLS FOE, AND SIMPLY, BECAUSE IT IS 
HANDY. 

And so, the English abused a rule which was 
no longer adaptable to reality, but which merely 
permitted them to exist, with the least possible 
effort. Brutally, they have obliged themselves 
to change their ideas, and they have immediately 
given proof of the energy, which one would like 
to see practiced here, before the hour of peril 
is sounded. Their expeditionary forces, which 
amounted to 100,000 men the day before the war 
has been transformed in fourteen months, and 
by voluntary consent of individuals, into an army 
of 4,000,000 men. 4,000,000 men are to-day on 
the English front, or ready to be sent there — and 
the whole country is mobilized in its entirety, for 
the needs of this vast force. 

The daily and persevering education, that it 
was necessary to undertake, in order to make plain 
to each Englishman, the error of his supposed tra- 
ditional geographical privileges, we, still have the 
time to accomplish, methodically and in cold 
blood, instead of resorting to a great unstudied 
effort, which is always perilous. 

BUT, LET US EEMEMBEE THEEE IS 
NOT ONE MOMENT TO LOSE, FOE, AS IT 
IS, WE HAVE ALEEADY LOST EIGHTEEN 
MONTHS. 

We find ourselves, as did England, in the posi- 
tion of an individual who has a vocation, but who, 
in order to insure his existence has got to learn a 
trade. Dilettanteism to-day is not sufficient. We 

[16] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

must have trained officers — soldiers can be 
found — but officers, it takes years to form, and not 
a few weeks, as in our present pretension. The 
effort I am asking for, will not be arrived at with- 
out discussion, but who' would, as a Chief of State 
wait another moment before making it. The feel- 
ing of the risk that our country is running should 
forbid us to delay one day the moment of acting. 
England and France also have repaired their 
errors; but, think of what would have been their 
supremacy, if, instead of having improvised, they 
had prepared! Let us open our ears, as our old 
friends on the other side of the Ocean have done, 
to the voices that show us the dangers we are 
running, and let us profit by our good luck to be 
able to prepare without precipitation, but with a 
studied rapidity. 

All that can be a reproach to England is her 
thoughtlessness in time of peace; but, are we 
qualified to make that reproach? At the pres- 
ent moment she understands, she has studied the 
question and has attacked it. BY ALL THAT 
SHE HAS DONE, AND BY ALL THAT SHE 
IS GOING TO DO, SHE IS, IN THE ACTUAL 
STRUGGLE, THE SUREST ELEMENT OF 
FINAL SUCCESS. Remember what Mr. Asquith 
said in conclusion in one of his last speeches in 
Parliament — ' ' This war, is a mathematical war, of 
organization and endurance, the victory will lean 
to the side which has the best army, and which 
will be able to hold out the longest, and it is just 
that which we have the intention of doing." 
ENGLAND, of all the belligerents, has the great- 
est reserves, she has the most material resources, 
her industrial and economical possibilities are 

[17] 



OUR FRIEND^ FRANCE 

almost unlimited. The longer the fight goes on, 
the more the weight of her alliance will be felt, 
in the balance of the opposing forces. She car- 
ries with her innumerable hopes, and it is perhaps 
for that reason that her advance is slow and that 
she moves with the dignity and pomp of a great 
cortege. 

AGAIN LET US COPY AND NOT BE- 
LITTLE HEE, AND DO NOT LET US LOSE 
THE ADVANTAGE WE HAVE OF BEING 
ABLE TO PREPARE OURSELVES WITH- 
OUT HASTE. 

The feebleness of onr military policy comes 
naturally from the guilty conception of our gov- 
ernment in relation to exterior problems, or better 
still, as regards questions of humanity. If, from 
the first day of the war, our masters, had felt 
that the enemies of Right and Liberty were ours, 
we would have commenced our preparation 
eighteen months back; but, by deceiving us as 
to our duty toward others, they have succeeded in 
blinding us as to our duty toward ourselves; 
THEY HAVE ENDEAVORED TO OPPOSE 
OUR HONOR TO OUR INTERESTS, WHEN, 
IN REALITY, THEY ARE INSEPARABLE, 
AS ALWAYS. Our HONOR called upon 
us to speak out, to condemn those who were 
acting against the great cause of civiliza- 
tion—our INTEREST, was to seize the occasion 
and to put ourselves on guard against them. The 
game of the government has consisted, in always 
showing itself complacent toward those who they 
thought to be the strongest, as if we implored the 
protection of this force, as if we did not know, 
that it has but one aim, that is tyranny, and 

[18] 



OUR FEIEND^ FRANCE 

oppression. It is at least undignified and un- 
becoming for a great nation like ours to play 
at such a game. Sooner or later, too much 
cleverness on our part will turn out to be 
stupidity, for Germany is destined to defeat, and 
so, the calculations of our politicians will be 
worsted and we will have compromised, at the 
same time, our intelligence and our good renown. 
The Policy to be following at this time, as always 
is that of HONESTY! 

I said a moment ago that a statesman should 
modify and mould his conduct according to 
events; but I did not mean that he should act like 
a trimmer, or a weather cock, turning to every 
breeze. The events to which I refer are 
those which show, where stand the Honor, 
and the Strength of a Nation, for the crimes 
of Grermany show clearly that it is impossible 
to give her full swing without being besmirched 
and dishonored. Her devouring ambition, 
her brutal methods of intimidation, attest, 
that in wishing to live at peace with her one may 
be courting death. 

We have, we Americans, two enemies — one out- 
side, one inside — Germany and our political Pol- 
icy. Germany because she represents a perpetual 
menace to all FREE people, through her tradi- 
tions, which are the opposite of all we stand for, 
of all our fathers fought for — our political Policy, 
because it has not the courage to make us re- 
spected, nor to protect us from future danger. 
Every day, we are further exposed to discon- 
sideration and ridicule, awaiting calmly and stu- 
pidly the day, when our turn will come of being 
the victim of aggression. 

[19] 



OUR FRIEND^ FRANCE 

I am no more tlian you are the dupe of diplo- 
matic incidents which are regulated, so it is said, 
by victories, followed, however, every time, by 
further Forfeits and further Humiliation, and the 
price of this Humiliation is the German vote, which 
is in the hand of Mr. von Bernstorif . I have not as 
a principle to hide myself behind, false appear- 
ances that permit me to cloak my real feelings, 
to fool my conscience, and to avoid responsi- 
bilities. In this hour, which is as important 
for the neutrals as for the belligerents, we have 
need of a CHIEF, a LEADER, not of a mere 
spokesman, who negotiates our capitulation at the 
price of our shame. Our Force and our Vir- 
tues, must come out of this war enforced, not 
weakened, dead perhaps. 

The position of neutrality, is one of those, which 
can be misunderstood and abused most easily. 
At first glance, it would seem that the neutrality, 
which leads to absolute inaction, is an ideal one. 
' ' You are fighting, I look on. ' ' But this point of 
view is absolutely wrong, if one goes to the bot- 
tom of things; even if we found ourselves before 
a people who respect our neutrality, which is not 
the case, the way in which we looked upon it would 
not be equitable. 

A neutral people, is a people who do not favor 
either one or the other of the belligerents. It 
is unquestionable that we have favored Germany's 
game by allowing her, without protest by us in 
the commencement, to commit crime after crime, 
and by furnishing her thus, a tacit help. In fact, 
we had thrown off our neutrality the day we per- 
mitted, without lifting our voices, the violation of 
Belgian territory. There is silence which equals 

[20] 



OUE FRIEND, FRANCE 

assent. We have furnished to Germany the aid 
of our complicit}^, and this aid is considerable. 
Nobody can tell what effect, at that moment, our 
firm protestation would have had on the neutrals 
of Europe, who were too weak and in too danger- 
ous a position to take the initiative of a formal dis- 
approval. 

So, since August 4, 1914, any true neutrality 
on our part has ceased and we have been forced, 
unconsciously, to take the side of the disloyal 
belligerent. We have been punished, because we 
have acquired the discredit of the entire civilized 
world, and the disloyalty which we protected has 
turned against us. 

Can the Administration, which is continually 
confining itself within the limits of jurisprudence, 
tell me if there exists any text which authorizes 
the signer of an International Convention to de- 
mand reparation for an outraged right on the 
Sea more than on the Land? Are the crimes 
against the Lusitania, the Ancona, the Persia, less 
culpable than the violation of Luxemborg? Cer- 
tainly not! 

Therefore, in the name of what principle do 
we protest, even feebly, in the first case and not 
in the second? Probably because American citi- 
zens are involved; but, can we claim for the ap- 
plication of the rule in OUR favor when we have 
not claimed it in favor of the others? We have 
allowed to be established a precedent which in 
good jurisprudence forbids us to recriminate and 
leaves to Germany the liberty of doing as she 
pleases. OUR DIPLOMATIC GASPS WILL 
ONLY BECOME EFFECTIVE AND LEGITI- 
MATE THE DAY, WHEN GOING BACK TO 

[21] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

THE PAST, WE HAVE CONDEMNED IN 
BLOCK THE TEUTONIC INFRACTIONS 
AGAINST ALL THE LAWS OF HUMANITY. 

This is a second way of understanding neutral- 
ity. It is, following my ideas and following also 
yours, I will wager, the only one which is defend- 
able. We then become the impartial observer who 
does not deceive himself with personal sympathy, 
nor attempt to gain the indulgence of those he be- 
lieves to be the strongest. We place ourselves 
strongly upon the ground of the code, and we 
judge impartially, each blow given by each of the 
adversaries. We favor neither one nor the other. 
We simply mean to see that the rules of the game 
are followed out. Our role is as simple as this. 
We do not pretend to play any other, and nobody 
is asking us to do so. Only, let us remember that 
sometimes in a duel the second exposes himself 
to receive a lost ball or a stray thrust, and so, let 
us prepare to ward it off. We have already re- 
ceived several nasty ones. We do not want war 
with Germany, but she, in her fury, will throw us 
a defiance, throws it even daily, and the longer 
we allow her to believe in our weakness, the more 
she will show herself disdainful and aggressive. 

Every time a vessel is blown up and American 
lives are sacrificed to German cowardice, we send 
to Berlin or Vienna a note which speaks of the 
Rights of Neutrals. When will somebody send to 
us a note which wiU tell of the Duties of Neutrals? 

It is an elementary notion of philosophy that 
every Right calls for a corresponding Obligation. 
What Duty have we corresponding to the Rights 
which we have been claiming uselessly since many 
months ? That of observing the obligations which 

[22] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

liave been imposed upon us, by our very great 
part, as spectators, that is to say, to keep out of 
the fight only when this fight follows rules laid 
down by International Law. But supposing those 
rules are no more respected, our duty urges us then 
to act, our very duty as neutrals. If not where 
can we look for any righteousness in our vindi- 
cation? The clauses concerning us have no more 
value than those concerning the belligerents in 
their mutual relations. IF WE PEEMIT ONLY 
ONE ATTEMPT AGAINST THE LAW OF 
WAR, IT IS THE WHOLE OF THE LAW 
WHICH IS INVOLVED. 

So, I say that if we wish with any authority to 
insist upon our Rights, we must previously fulfil 
our Duties. I expressly remain on the ground of 
jurisprudence in order to take the same point of 
view as our Masters who confine themselves to 
it. I neglect willingly, for the while, any question 
of sentiment or interest. Our Rights are strongly 
bound to those of the belligerents; they form a 
chapter of the common law and OUR DUTY TO- 
WARD OURSELVES IS TO SEE THAT THIS 
LAW IS RESPECTED, JUST AS THE BEL- 
LIGERENTS' DUTY IS TO RESPECT IT, and 
I believe that now, after seventeen months of war 
facts have sufficiently settled on which side stand 
those who respect their oath. 

In his last message to Congress, the President 
has treated in a similar way the active friends of 
Germany and those of the Allies. He has involved 
in the same disapproval in the same scorn, every 
American living here or residing abroad, **who 
though born and bred in the United States and 
calling themselves Americans have so far forgot- 

[23] 



OUE FKIEND, FEANCE 

ten themselves and their Honor as American citi- 
zens as to put their passionate sympathy with one 
or the other side of the great European conflict^ 
above the regard for the Peace and Dignity of the 
United States." It sits well upon the President to 
speak of Honour, Peace and Dignity after eighteen 
months of humiliating apathy, with which he has 
even succeeded, alas, in permeating a great por- 
tion of our citizens who in their hearts know bet- 
ter. Why does he not speak about those Ameri- 
cans who have put their Indifference to the service 
of Germany. DO YOU FEEL STEONG 
ENOUGH TO MAKE EESPECTED YOUB 
EIGHTS OF NEUTEALS THAT YOU DO NOT 
THINK IT WOETH WHILE TO UPHOLD 
THOSE WHO AEE FIGHTING TO SAFE- 
GUAED THEM? Your desire for Peace, which 
is so dear to you, which is so dear to all of us, it is 
France and her Allies who defend it, and I am 
more Neutral than you are, when I chose to be 
with those who fight for justice because I know 
my Neutrality rests alone on justice. 

I have committed the crime, I confess it, of 
having gone to France at the beginning of the 
War and living there for sixteen months. At 
least I have been able to enlighten myself and to 
constat with my eyes where the enemies of Eight 
were to be found. I have had indisputable proof 
of the German atrocities ! I can swear that they 
have never hesitated before any crime, in order 
to obtain through TEEEOE the victory they were 
unable to win by legitimate success of their arms. 
The assassination of prisoners and of wounded, 
the destruction by fire, pillage, the use of forbid- 
den projectiles, employment of fiery liquids and 

[24] 



OUR FRIEND, PRANCE 



asphyxiating gases, tlie bombardment of open 
towns, the Zeppelin and aeroplane raids against 
civil populations. I can guarantee to you that all 
this is true. I have witnessed many of them, or 
else I have had in my hands documents which es- 
tablished the truth of my assertions in an abso- 
lute manner. 

But now, amongst all the sufferings I have seen, 
none have appealed to me so much as those of 
things — the martyrdom of mutilated cities, the de- 
capitation of cathedrals, the assassination of ar- 
chitecture. The chapter of the crimes committed 
by the Germans against the Stones should re- 
main an imperishable monument to their barbar- 
ism. It is for this reason I have said that the 
cathedral of Eheims should not be restored nor 
any of the other monuments of the past against 
which the Germans have vented their rage and 
impotency. Repair them, yes, permit their wounds 
to heal, but never attempt to restore them in their 
integrity. They should no more be touched than 
should the Parthenon, because, that which is lack- 
ing to them, their lost members and their tortured 
limbs, should remain as an eternal proof that 
the cause of France was right. All that I 
saw, all that I was able to confirm during my 
trips to the front proves that the Germans are 
possessed of an unhealthy desire for destruction. 
Rheims, Arras, Ypres, Soisson, and many other 
towns and innumerable villages have been victims 
of these profanations, which have no excuse from 
the point of view of military necessity. See for 
yourselves the work of these Vandals. * * * 

* * * * » • • •'• 

[25] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

After this let the German Intellectuals estab- 
lish by pompous manifestos that it is not true 
that they make war against the Laws and Eights 
of Men. One can always, by quibbling and by 
using cleverly turned language, appear to turn 
wrong into right; but the deeds are there. You 
have seen them. They are, indeed, eloquent. The 
Neutrality of Belgium violated, the attacks on 
the lives and belongings of citizens, the de- 
struction of churches and works of art. May it 
not displease Wilhelm von Bode, Director- 
General of the Eoyal Museum of Berlin, that un- 
principled fakir and presumptous pedant, that 
head of a band who was one of the first to place 
his signature at the bottom of the famous mani- 
festo of the German intellectuals; none of these 
crimes can find their justification in military ne- 
cessity — they are the result of an education of 
which the object is to place the development of 
force above that of everything else — force is per- 
haps too feeble a word to express what I wish to 
say, because true force is that which is employed 
to do good. VULGAR BRUTALITY is perhaps a 
more fitting expression. When a nation or an indi- 
vidual is naturally thick-headed, they remain so 
throughout all their enterprises. You may say 
to me that there is no gentle way of making war. 
I concede this, but even under the most desperate 
circumstances, there does exist a decency, which 
has been laid down by convention, and which the 
Allies, and I might say, OURSELVES, certainly 
would not have transgressed, had luck conducted 
us first into an enemies country. 

Before finishing this lecture, I want to say to 
you that Germany not only has no scruples in the 

[26] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

way she conducts war, but none In the peace 
which she imposes. If, unhappily, one is more 
feeble than she is, she adds the crime of robbery 
to that of assassination — from Denmark she has 
robbed Slesvig-Holstein; From France she has 
robbed Alsace and Lorraine; she has plundered 
Poland. Her ally, Austria, ' ' her brilliant second ' ' 
''she, whose soul is the sister of her own," has 
robbed the Bosnias, Herzegovnia, The Trent, The 
Central Empires have established their power 
through brigandage. To explain to you what I 
mean, I would choose the typical case of Alsace 
and Lorraine. The problem in itself is not as 
familiar as it should be in this country. Many 
regard it with indifference ; others find for it all 
sorts of fantastical solutions. It is sufficient in 
order to consider it from the point of view of 
equity, to admit, that the only just solution is that 
which France has dreamed of for forty years, and 
which is about to become a reality, for, Alsace 
and Lorraine, are hy nature, French. The very 
point of view which I will consider is that of NA- 
TUEE, that is, Geographically and Sentimentally. 
History, often infuses artificial arguments, because 
history, is the work of man. Alsace and Lorraine 
have changed hands so often, that their cause 
would never be terminated, if France and Ger- 
many confined their rights of proprietor-ship upon 
historical facts, which, after all, are only second- 
ary, because they have not a permanent character. 
Eternal are those only which are founded essen- 
tially upon nature. 

Let us therefore consider a map, and the in- 
ward feeling of the population, their HEAETS, to 
form an impartial, and neutral, judgment. 

[27] 



OTJB FRIEND, FRANCE 

You will see that the Ehine flows between 
two ranges of mountains, on the one side the 
Vosges, on the other the Black Forest. The 
Ehine evenly divides the territory between these 
two ranges and this draws a line of natural equi- 
librium between France and Germany. As a mat- 
ter of fact, if either one of the powers steps over 
it, the advantage she acquires is incontestible. If 
Germany advances to the Vosges, for example, 
her zone of attack, or of protection is increased 
just so much. She acquires three lines of defense 
— the Vosges, the Ehine and the Black Forest, and 
France has but one that of the Vosges. In order 
that justice may be satisfied each one of the neigh- 
bors should be guarded by the same lines of de- 
fense — France, the Vosges, and Alsace-Lorraine 
by the left bank of the Ehine — Germany, by the 
Black Forest, the Duchy of Baden, by the right 
bank of the Ehine. In other words, let us imag- 
ine the field between the Vosges and the Black 
Forest as an enormous tennis court, with the 
Ehine figuring as the net; each of the players is 
standing in his court awaiting the balls, but the 
game becomes absolutely unplayable if one of 
the players proceeds to suppress the net, and re- 
serves for himself the right to play in the adver- 
sary's court. 

It is not difficult to understand why Germany 
searches always to encroach on the frontier of her 
neighbors in spite of that which is just. It is her 
ambitious, aggressive policy. She never thinks 
of anything but attacking, and her desire is to 
destroy all objects which may frustrate her de- 
signs. Indeed, have not the Pan-Germanists been 
talking this long time of taking the Vosges, even 

[28] 



OUR FKIEND, FEANCB 

as they took the Khine? If this kind of thing 
should go on France would indeed be reduced to 
absolute powerlessness ; but she refuses to be 
at the mercy of the Barbarian — not only is she 
going to keep the Vosges, but she is going to ad- 
vance her line to the Rhine, thus establishing the 
equity between Germany and herself and re-ac- 
quiring Alsace and Lorraine, which belong to her 
by all geographical laws. The Rhine divides Ger- 
many from France even as it did in the time of 
Caesar, and just as the Pyrenees divide France 
from Spain; the Alps, France from Switzerland 
and Italy and the Channel, France from England. 
For Germany to have a foot hold on the left bank 
of the Rhine is as impossible for the equilibrium 
of Europe as to imagine her with one in England, 
at Dover, for example. 

To this I will now add the sentimental reasons 
— The Alsations and the Lorrainians are at Heart 
French. A plebecite would prove it, if under 
present conditions a plebecite were possible, which 
is not the case. After the treaty of Frankfort in 
1871, Germany gave the inhabitants of the ac- 
quired provinces the choice of remaining in their 
little countries and becoming German citizens or 
else to leave them and remain French. Great num- 
bers sadly accepted this last proposition and would 
not, of course, have the right to vote to-day. Oth- 
ers remained attached to the native soil in spite 
of the new naturalization which was imposed, and 
they conquered their repugnance in order not to 
desert their village. In a plebecite, it is true, 
they might vote; but their voices would be suffo- 
cated by those emigrants, that Germany poured 
into the provinces, as soon as the peace of '71 was 

[29] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

signed. She has, therefore, peopled them with 
her colonists, and the result of any referendum 
at the present moment would be a simple dupery I 
It was in '71 that a referendum would have been 
just; but at that moment Germany opposed it as 
she opposes everything which is just. To-day the 
real native population would have no chance of 
constituting a majority of those voting, but, none 
the less, their sentiments are not and never have 
been disputable. For forty-four years they have 
submitted to the tyrannical yoke of the invader, 
but she has never won them to her cause. They 
have never lost an occasion to demand their liber- 
ties, which are the liberties of the French. They 
have never asked for self-government, except in 
order to escape German domination and to avoid 
war. Now that this war is unchained, they ar- 
dently hope for the hour when they will again be 
part of the Great Republic. The Abbe Wetterle 
and Mr. George Weil, the Alsation deputies fled 
to France at the beginning of the hostilities. They 
are the true messengers of their fellow citizens. 
All true Alsace and all true Lorraine would have 
followed them had this been possible. Do not for 
one moment doubt that they are not French by 
Right and by Heart. It is another one of the cyni- 
cal German lies, that would have us believe the 
people there, were happy with their lot. Never 
has Germany been able to win them over. Her 
oppressive attitude, for forty-four years, is the 
best proof, and renders any referendum useless. 
You, who have the clear sightedness and the 
uprightness sufficient to establish the truth and 
to defend it with passion, REMEMBER, IT IS 
UPON THE SIDE OF FRANCE AND HER 
ALLIES THAT TRUTH IS TO BE FOUND 
JUST AS ARE ALSO JUSTICE AND LIB- 
ERTY. 

[30] 



To 
THE HARVARD CLUB, BOSTON, 

February 1, 1916 

G^ENTLEMEN 

All humanity is divided into two camps. The 
causes of this bloody division exceed greatly, the 
particular interests of those people who are in 
arms. It amounts to knowing, in the entire world, 
which is to triumph — Eight or Wrong, and, IF 
THE NATION THAT RESPECTS ITSELF, 
HAS THE RIGHT TO ASSIST AT WHAT IS 
GOING ON, IN SILENCE— AND WITPI ARMS 
FOLDED. You are the representatives of Ameri- 
can intelligence; solid and serious studies have 
put you in contact with the past, even as with the 
present, in the study of universal thought. You 
are familiar with the great events in history, the 
uninterrupted wars, which have followed each oth- 
er through all ages, over eternally the same ques- 
tion — on the one side Liberty, on the other Tyr- 
rany. On one side Justice, on the other Iniquity. 
You are of those, capable of lifting yourselves 
above all question of time, of placing yourselves 
outside all frontiers, in order to distribute, accord- 
ing to its merits, blame or praise. You possess the 
plain facts of the great problem, which is being 
solved on the Old Continent. You are able to judge 
by reasoning, not only by instinct. In other words, 
you are marked out as capable of being the arbi- 
trators, and of directing the spirit of our neutral- 
ity. The time has come for you to take up your 
responsibilities, and to render sentence as to which 

[31] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

shall dominate — the Kultur of Germany, or Civili- 
zation. 

For this is the way the problem is given to us, 
and I beg you to consider, under what terms, Kul- 
tur, has become the unenviable appanage of a 
race! It is always accompanied by a qualitative 
adjective, which localizes and restrains it. In 
other words, it is German — German Kultur! On 
the other hand, Civilization has remained a uni- 
versal ideal. It is neither Eussian, nor Italian, 
nor English, nor French, nor American. It is sim- 
ply Humanity! One is narrow, is part of a Sys- 
tem. The other is vast, and corresponds to the 
aspirations of Nature. There lies the essential 
distinction, between Kultur and Civilization. The 
Grerman Kultur represents a recent development. 
It is the methodical conglomeration of knowledge 
directed toward a special end. CIVILIZATION, 
IS THE AIM TOWARD WHICH LEADS THE 
FREE MOVEMENT OF THE SOUL. 

These definitions, you will understand, trans- 
late themselves in my mind immediately by artis- 
tic comparisons. In spite of everything, my call- 
ing takes the upper hand, and nobody can prevent 
me from thinking, that the criterion of a beautiful 
work, is not in its spontaneity. And again, as 
far as regards human actions, I feel the same way. 
These actions are not worthy of admiration, nor 
of respect, unless one feels that they are not laid 
down by effort, but that they bear the mark of 
inspiration. Look at a work of painting, of sculp- 
ture, or of architecture. You recognize that it 
is a master-piece, by the liberty of its conception, 
and of its execution. If it betrays study, research, 
labor, it is pretty nearly sure to be mediocre. Well, 

[32] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

everything that comes from Germany betrays all 
that. That which comes from France, (I choose 
France to personify, morally, the cause of the 
Allies) manifests genius. Minds like yours, ought 
to be sensible to this fundamental difference. 
There is a question of taste, of personal emotion, 
which ought to dominate all clear judgment, and, 
those who place GERMAN VULGARITY above, 
or on a level with, FRENCH GOOD TASTE, 
seem to me almost as pitiful, as the fool who pre- 
fers a cubist painting to a Fragonard, or who 
hesitate, between the two. 

Prussia, for over a hundred years, has not 
dreamed of, nor attempted anything less, than to 
impose her vulgar and brutal methods, first upon 
the rest of Germany, and then, upon the whole of 
the world. Drunk by constant success, she has 
finished by imagining that her task was to regene- 
rate the Universe. Little did it matter to her, if 
the Universe objected to such treatment. From 
the height of all her arrogance, she decided that 
nothing could resist, that nothing would resist, that 
she would re-create the world a second time ! 

There, where God had worked for seven days, 
she pretended to do the same, only asking for a 
slightly longer time. 

When one reflects, nothing is more presumptu- 
ous, nor more ridiculous than her undertaking. 
A little intelligence, would have saved her from 
the disaster to which she is rushing. To hope, 
by artificial means, to infuse a new life into all 
Nations, is one of those impossible and impracti- 
cable schemes, which if it did not entail, as it does 
to-day, the horrors of a general conflagration, 
would merit only laughter and derision. All the 

i3Z] 



OUR FRIEND^ FRANCE 

writers, all the men of knowledge, all tlie artists of 
Germany, for over a century, have associated 
themselves and have been the collaborators of this 
pretentious undertaking. They have furnished a 
tremendous intellectual effort, to denaturalize, to 
distort the thought of their fellow citizens, from 
their infancy up, and to make of each one of them, 
what is known as a Super-man. This is a proper 
term, invented, (as you know) by one of their mas- 
ters — Frederick Nietzche. If they could have con- 
tented themselves by making of the Super-man, a 
product intended for home consumption only, if 
Kultur was to be limited to their Empire, we would 
have nothing to say. The most we could regret, 
would be that people of an amiable nature (such 
as, for instance, the Badeneese), had allowed 
themselves, to be won over, to the methods and 
ways of thinking, of the Prussians and the 
Bavarians; but, unfortunately, the Super-man 
rapidly became an article for exportation, and he 
pretended to dominate the Universe. 

I have traveled not a little, and I have had the 
occasion many times to render account of his mis- 
deeds. To accomplish his ''divine" mission, he 
recedes before no crime. By intimidation and by 
eunningness, he has pretended to fashion all people 
after his own likeness. It was at that moment that 
we saw an army of bagmen, fall upon the Globe, 
some of them carrying their vulgar articles of 
commerce, others, their no less vulgar theories in 
regard to art and intellectual pursuits. Commerce, 
literature, fashion, have been spoiled by their bad 
taste. France, delicate in herself, could not even 
escape from the contamination. All over, their 
vulgarity made itself felt. Their theories invaded 

[34] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

the financial world, their blood insinuated itself 
amongst strangers, through their method of nat- 
uralization — one day crawling upon their bellies, 
and another menacing, they established them- 
selves everywhere, substituting their own image 
for that of other Nations ! 

This they were doing very successfully, when 
they lost patience! Pride, leaning on military 
force, suggested to them that they could more 
quickly accomplish their ambitious task by their 
arms, rather than by their persuasive manners. 
These scalers, who pretended to the Heavens, let 
us not deceive ourselves, were really nothing more, 
than ''second story men." And then the war 
burst ! It had as its object, to accomplish at one 
fell swoop, that for which they had prepared dur- 
ing forty-four years of peace. 

It will be their end, in ruining them, and it may 
have the happy result of re-conducting them back 
to their own land, where they may still continue, 
(if they so see fit), to believe that they are the 
Gods of the Universe. Yes ! There, and perhaps 
here, because their Walhalla is too cramped, and, 
where in Heaven's name can they hope to spread 
out, after it is all over, and all the gates are shut to 
them, unless it be in this country, which has not 
had the courage to throw them out, nor even to 
blame them openly! It will then he our lot, to 
really he the refuge for the scum of the earth. The 
indulgence which we show them, indicates to them, 
that the United States is a refuge which they may 
hope to conquer, by their methods of seemingly 
peaceful invasion, and from which we are already 
suffering. 

But this, our present state, is nothing in conii- 
[35] 



OUR FEIEIS^D, FRANCE 

parison to what they have in reserve for us. Their 
Kultur will find, from one end to the other of 
our vast territory, a wonderful field — from Can- 
ada to Mexico — everywhere their seed will be 
sown; And yet, up to the present time, we have 
posed amongst the Champions of Civilization ! We 
used to proclaim with pride, that WE also were 
the Defenders of Eight and Liberty. WE PRE- 
TENDED TO PORTEAY, THE GREAT TRA- 
DITIONS HANDED DOWN TO US, BY OUR 
FATHERS, AND WE ADMITTED, AS OUR 
IDEALS, THE MORAL LAWS FAMILIAR TO 
INNUMERABLE GENERATIONS. Are we go- 
ing to change our point of viewf Are we going 
to allow ourselves to be fooled by theories, which 
have not even the virtue of being new, which are, 
as old as wickedness and ugliness? I trust not! 
WE CANNOT, WE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 
REMAIN IMPASSIVE, WHEN THE PRINCI- 
PLES UNDER WHICH WE WERE BORN 
ARE ATTACKED, NOR CAN WE ALLOW 
OURSELVES LATER, TO BECOME THE 
SAFE ASYLUM OF THOSE WHO HAVE 
VIOLATED THEM. As a matter of fact, we 
have committed the unpardonable offense, of hav- 
ing asked for time to reflect upon our course, but,, 
the more we become conscious of our fault, the 
greater it is, and there is no help for us excepting 
in a change of attitude; BECAUSE, IF WE 
STILL GO ON HESITATING IT IS TO BE 
FEARED THAT WE MAY TAKE ON THE 
HABIT OF OUR INDIGNITY. It is this hope, 
without doubt, upon which our Masters in Wash- 
ington are nourishing themselves. They hope, for 
their security, that we will think one day as they 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

have made us act. The hour approaches, iix 
which we must judge them. This hour must find 
us, ready to insist that w« be allowed, to act, as we 
think. We do not wish to be contaminated by 
German Kultur, and you, above all others, who 
-are the guardians of our spiritual life, you have 
the great duty of arising and protesting; believe 
me, we are not the victims of our imagination, we 
are not being alarmed by hypothetical danger ! 

Kultur has no secrets for us. We have had the 
luck to see it at work, both in times of peace and 
in times of war ; and, we would be without honor, 
without reason, if we did not declare ourselves its 
everlasting enemy. It respects nothing and no- 
body, no more our ideas than our persons. It 
has ravaged Belgium; it has sunk the Lusitania. 
No matter to which side we turn, we can find no 
excuse for our indifference, for our mute com- 
plicity. If we place disinterestedness before ego- 
ism, we still have the duty of expressing our indig- 
nation, against the German will and purpose to 
suppress the weaker peoples and to transgress all 
laws for which we have respect. If, on the con- 
trary, we place egoism before disinterestedness, 
THE INSTINCT OF PEESERVATION 
ORDERS US TO PROTECT OURSELVES 
AGAINST THOSE WHO MURDER US. 

We may search in vain to justify our inertia — 
the Germanic menace envelops us; it is directed 
against all our sentiments, the most noble as the 
most common, and, in refusing to respect the evi- 
dence, we condemn ourselves to an insensibility, 
that means, to death. But it is not we who refuse, 
it is our Government, AND SINCE SUCH IS ITS 
DESTINY, it will die. From force of habit of 

137] 



OUB FRIEND, FEAl^CE 

©losing its eyes, the day will come, when it will 
open them no more I 

I am convinced that, speaking the way 1 do, I 
interpret the intimate thought of the vast major- 
ity of my fellow citizens. I would indeed be sorry 
if it were possible to think otherwise. I have 
the conviction, that all real Americans, in their 
inward inwardness, feel an uncomfortable unrest 
when they open their newspapers in the morning 
and see the manner in which we are playing at 
hide and seek, the suppleness with which we get 
out of the way, and the humiliating ingeniousness 
with which our Masters use our name, to obtain 
satisfaction at any price; and to attenuate, by 
their cleverness of tongue, or by seeming solu- 
tions, the aggressive and injurious intentions of 
Grermany. 

If indeed the people of America were respon- 
sible for the acts of the Government we will have 
to ask, very shortly, like Germany, why we have 
so many enemies. The Allies have to be very 
patient, not to make us responsible for the acts of 
our Masters. What saves us is the inconceivable 
nature of their conduct even in their smallest acts. 
When for example under existing conditions our 
President, on the Emperor's birthday sends to 
him his best wishes, France and England before 
a gesture so naive do not for a moment imagine 
that we join him. 

Think of it, here is a man, the Kaiser, who is 
responsible for all the crimes against humanity, 
the crimes against our fellow citizens. Here is 
a sovereign who has it in his power, by a single 
word, to put an end to the abominable acts of his 
admirals and generals, and yet does not pronounce 

[38] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

this word. It is the Kaiser who' sank the Lusi- 
tania, and what has our President done to avenge 
our victims? 

When he becomes again a simple citizen, he will 
be free to send telegrams of felicitation to all the 
assassins of the world, but he has not the right to 
invite the Universe to believe that his signature 
means ours, nor do we wish that we could be ao- 
•cused of receiving with smile and handshake Mr. 
A^on Bernstorff, who had the cynical presumption 
of notifying our unhappy citizens that his master 
iad the intention of assassinating them. There 
is a band known as the Black Hand, which have 
also the habit of admonishing their victims. "When 
the police put their hands on one of them they 
cast him into prison until the day that he is judged. 

Let us respect the diplomatic immunity and let 
us insist that Mr. Von Bernstorff relieve us of his 
undesirable presence. 

And yet I am full well aware that after the 
affair of the Lusitania we carried off a diplomatic 
victory. We sent a note and we received one in 
return and then the Arabic was torpedoed, 
amongst others, and then the Ancona! 

After that we sent another note and we carried 
off another diplomatic victory. This, if you will 
remember was on New Year's Day and was evi- 
dently intended as a present to the United States ; 
but on the afternoon of the next day, the Persia 
was blown up ! The Turks, by Jove ! ! The Teu- 
tonic empires are making fools of us! This is 
only too clear, and they employ, to justify them- 
selves, arguments which cover us with ridicule and 
which we accept. For instance, if, in the case of 
the Lusitania our citizens found Death, it was 

[39] 



OUB FRIEND, rRAK"OE 

because the Lusitania sank too quickly, and in 
the case of the Ancona, it was because the crew 
behaved so badly. I wish to take up this last 
allegation. It bears the mark of a too shameful 
cynicism. I have been in Italy and I have seen 
the magnificence of the Italians who are fighting. 
They carry with them in the struggle of the con- 
flict all the ardor and force which is one of the 
characteristics of their race. Knowing them as I 
do I do not hesitate to say, that the insinuation is 
an indecent lie, which the Austrians have used to 
excuse their crime. Eest assured that the crew 
of the Ancona never swerved for a single instant 
from the idealism of its duty, and that Austria 
has invented out of whole cloth the miserable in- 
sinuation. We ought to blush to allow ourselves 
to be thus treated as fools. To the actual crime 
they do not hesitate to offer us moral insult. In 
all truth it is marvelous to see the subtleness and 
the ingenuity displayed by our Masters to remain 
under any conditions on good terms with the Cen- 
tral Empires. 

A few days ago at "Washington, a Senator said 
that Americans should not have the right to em- 
bark on ships belonging to the belligerents, that in 
so doing they acted as bad citizens, that they 
were endeavoring to embarass their own country. 
It is incomprehensible to understand how such 
language can be uttered by the mouth of one who 
is credited to understand the laws. All interna- 
tional conventions, are supposed to protect the 
existence of all passengers, no matter on what ship 
they are traveling or of what country they are 
citizens. Are we going to bear ourselves suffi- 
ciently low, to Germany, to acknowledge her pre- 

[40] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

tensions, in encouraging tacitly her liberty to kill 
any civilians that she wishes to, except Ameri- 
cans? And again, then what guarantee have we 
that they will not attack neutral flags? The law 
which places them in safety is no more solid than 
the one violated. It is either the whole law we 
should stand by, or else no law holds good. In- 
stead of getting satisfaction, shall we be forced 
to offer it? 

The Government amuses itself with consulta- 
tions, when the hour of action has sounded a long 
time back! One may almost say that they are 
prolonging the agony over the submarine ques- 
tion, out of a sort of gratitude, because they re- 
member, without doubt, that this quarrel has di- 
verted attention, happily for it, from the Mexican 
question which was babied along by Mr. Taft to 
hand to Mr. Wilson, who, in turn, is babying it 
along to hand to heaven knows who; but, let us 
hope to someone with the energy and intelligence 
to solve it. Strange as it may seem, the adminis- 
tration, up to the present moment has, thanks to 
the war, been able to keep alive. However, soon- 
er or later, it will be the death of it. 

I ask you all, if it has not come over you more 
than once, in the last eighteen months, to have 
felt wounded in your self-respect and in your 
modesty. What has come over us ? Who has thus 
the right to make us hang our heads? We know 
that we are in the wrong; or, at least — through 
the attitude of our Government — that we have the 
appearance of a people who are deceiving their 
conscience. GERMANY IS OUR ENEMY, AS 
SHE IS THE ENEMY OF ALL FREE PEO- 
PLE. We have nothing in common with those 

141] 



OUB FKIEND, PRAIsrCE 

wlio base their grandeur upon pillage, and upon 
terror, with those who — taking the name of liberty 
in vain — have annexed by violence Alsace, Lor- 
raine, Slesvig-Holstein, Bosnia, Herzogoviniay 
Triest and the Trent, with those who have cow- 
ardly invaded glorious Belgium, and are now 
strangling gallant little Servia. THE SMALL 
NATIONS IN THE WORLD, EEPRESENT 
A GREAT PRINCIPLE, FOR, WITHOUT 
WEAKNESS, JUSTICE WOULD NOT EXIST, 
AND LIBERTY, WOULD DISAPPEAR, IF IT 
WERE NO LONGER NECESSARY TO PRO- 
TECT IT. Therefore, do not let us astonish 
ourselves, if German Kultur ends by the sup- 
pression of all nations without defense. But 
we, in the very name of the Monroe Doctrine, we 
claim their right to existence; not only in this man- 
ner, do we claim it, but in the name of all interna- 
tional law which we have admitted. My sixteen 
months stay in France permits me to say, without 
fear of being contradicted, that the Germans have 
considered these international laws, all of them^ 
as ''mere scraps of paper." Where, therefore, do 
they find the impudence to-day, of exciting them- 
selves, and ourselves, against the attitude of Eng- 
land, to inspire in our journals, through the inter- 
mediary of our administration, articles which at- 
tack the acts of Great Britain. They should have 
the modesty to keep quiet; and we, also, in our 
not protesting against the acts of Germany, we 
have lost the right to school whoever it may be, 
and we are no longer qualified, even to discuss the 
legitimacy of reprisals, should any of the Allies 
see fit no longer to respect international treaties 
and conventions. 

[42] 



OUR FRIEND, FRANCE 

England, at this moment, should be an example 
for us. A nation of sailors, the English have, in 
an incredibly short time, realized and perfected 
themselves as a nation of soldiers. We, who are 
always speaking of preparation, let us hope that 
we will do as well, when the moment comes, that 
we have the courage to take a decision. For the 
moment they do not ask so much of us. ALL I 
ASK, AND ALL THE ALLIES ASK, IS NO 
DIRECT PARTICIPATION IN THE WAR; 
BUT, THE OFFICIAL DECLARATION THAT 
WILL SHOW TO THE WORLD OUR MORAL 
ATTITUDE! Are you of the opinion that the 
actual government interprets, by its ambiguous 
manifestations, the sentiments of the United 
States? No. Are you of the opinion then that 
we are practicing obedience to the Government's 
wishes in an intelligent fashion? There are in- 
deed three ways of a people understanding obe- 
dience, as exemplified by the belligerents and our- 
selves. THAT OF THE ALLIES WHERE THE 
OFFICERS LEAD MEN, THAT OF THE 
TEUTONS, WHERE THE OFFICERS DRIVE 
THE MEN, AND OF OURSELVES— A FLOCK 
OF MUTTONS FOLLOWING THE SHEP- 
HERD. LET US BE VERY WARY OF HOW 
WE LEAN TO THIS LAST METHOD, WHICH 
LEADS TO ALL KH^DS OF MISERABLE 
COMPROMISE, AND ALL KINDS OF ABDI- 
CATION. 



[43] 



mSmm' congress 

021 5^™^^^^^^^ ^1 



